Olly Murs at Birmingham Resorts World Arena, 10th May 2019

Last Friday I went to see one of my favourite artists ever, Olly Murs, for the first time in almost two years. Even though I have seen Olly live seven times now, I always get just as excited every time I see him because he always puts on the most amazing shows! I’ve been obsessed with his latest album ever since it came out so I knew this concert was going to be so much fun, especially because it was celebrating ten years since Olly was on the X Factor (I know, it made me feel so old as well).

We got into the venue just before the support act, Rak Su, were about to perform. Our seats were on the floor, but we were literally about four rows from the back of the floor and as a short person you just have to hope and pray that there isn’t a giant standing in front of you. Unfortunately for me, there were quite a few tall people in front of me, but if I peeked in between them and occasionally stood on my tip-toes, I could see. Rak Su were a pretty good support act; they got everybody on their feet, dancing around and singing along which got everyone really hyped for Olly to come on.

After a lot of singing along and laughing at the unsuspecting people in the crowd appearing on the

big screens, the moment arrived when the lights went down and the show was about to begin. A countdown started which always makes my heart race, and a video started playing of Olly dressed as a fan waiting to go into his own show, which was pretty funny. The funniest thing was that Olly was actually in the crowd! He started singing ‘Moves’ as he walked through one of the front tiered blocks, high-fiving people and others taking cheeky selfies with him as he walked past them, how lucky were they! As he made his way to the stage the atmosphere was already electric, and towards the end of the song Olly started to sing ‘Shape of You’ by Ed Sheeran mashed up with ‘Moves’, which was so cool and clever.

He then launched straight into ‘Feel The Same’, another song from the latest album and one of my favourites for dancing along to and belting it out. I really loved the visuals on the screen for this song, there were loads of old-fashioned TV screens lighting up with different colours and when the chorus started they would flash up with the lyrics. If you know me you’ll know how much I love a good concert visual and Olly certainly delivered.

I don’t think I even stopped to take a breath as Olly continued into ‘Kiss Me’ and ‘Maria’, keeping up the upbeat vibe throughout. The thing I love about Olly is that he has so much energy on stage, he dances and runs around and interacts with the crowd so much yet his vocals are always incredible too. I have no idea how he does it, but I love jumping around and screaming out the words without a care in the world along with him. Continuing with the hyped up vibe, the next song was ‘You Don’t Know Love’, but it was a really cool version complete with fire on the stage and everything. It was like a sort of slowed down, more rocky type version which I enjoyed so much – Olly is always so original even though I’ve seen him so many times; his shows are never the same.

There was another really cool mash up when Olly sang the title track from his newest album ‘You Know I Know’ (which is my ultimate driving jam!) and mashed it with the absolute throwback smash that is ‘It Wasn’t Me’ by Shaggy. That song just always takes me back to school discos and honestly when I hear it now I cringe that we all sang along with it not knowing what it actually meant! But anyway, the way Olly mashes up his own songs with other songs is really awesome, I love it so much.

After the first six really upbeat tracks, Olly gave us a well-earned break and this was actually one of my favourite moments of the whole night. He started talking about something really, really important; mental health. He told us that there was a time a few years ago when he struggled with his own mental health and that’s when he wrote the next song he was going to perform. He said that it’s so important to go and speak to someone if you’re struggling instead of keeping it to yourself and suffering in silence. To hear one of my biggest idols open up to a room full of over 15,000 people and talk so openly and honestly about something he’d been through honestly gave me goosebumps. It just goes to show that you never can tell what’s going on behind someone’s smile. Olly is such a positive, happy and bubbly person you never would’ve guessed he would be struggling. But that’s the important thing we need to learn here, is that it doesn’t matter who you are, mental health issues can affect anyone.

Following that heart-warming speech, Olly sang ‘Talking to Myself’, the song that he had written about mental health. It’s weird because this is one of my favourite songs from his latest album, and yet it had never occurred to me what it was really about until I heard Olly talk about it. And then suddenly, the song took on a whole new meaning. As I listened to him sing out the words to a crowd full of flashlights swaying along and screamed them out as well, I thought how on earth did I never realise what they meant before? It was such a touching, special moment and I will never hear that song the same way again.

Olly then went off stage to do a quick costume change while a video played on the screens. It was a montage of the past ten years of Olly’s career, from his X Factor audition throughout the years until the present day. It really made me smile because it showed just how far he has come and I remember all those years ago voting for him on the X Factor and following him since then. It ended with a video of his audition, and then he came back on stage and sang the song he auditioned with ‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder.

Afterwards he talked some more about the past ten years, and that’s another thing I love about Olly, he talks to the audience so much and you can tell he’s so genuinely thankful to everyone for coming to his shows. As I always say, the thing that makes concerts stand out for me is interaction with the crowd, and Olly certainly did plenty of that. At one point he literally talked for about ten minutes straight about everything from The Voice, to touring with One Direction (at which point I was screaming, of course). I don’t know many artists who would talk to their audience for that amount of time, and to top it all off he’s just so funny, he was constantly cracking jokes and I genuinely don’t think I’ve laughed that much at a concert ever. It all contributed to such an entertaining, feel-good atmosphere.

He sang some throwbacks – ‘Please Don’t Let Me Go’ and ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ – both of which bring back so many happy memories for me. Olly’s older songs always remind me of being in my last years of school when me and my friends used to listen to them all the time, so they make me smile whenever I hear them. After that he talked even more about when he supported Robbie Williams on tour and said he always wanted to have that ‘moment’ when the crowd would sing back every word of one of his songs. He said that one night on that tour he had that moment with ‘Dear Darlin’, a song that he always dedicates to those loved ones who we have lost. I have to admit it always makes me tear up just a little bit. But sure enough, he stopped singing at one point and held the microphone out to the crowd, and we all sang along and honestly I got goosebumps, it was that moment.

Olly drew the show to a close with a duet with one of his amazing backing singers of ‘Up’, then the classics ‘Troublemaker’ and ‘Wrapped Up’, all of which ended the show on an upbeat, energy-filled high. He came back on for the encore which was ‘Dance With Me Tonight’, another song which brings back so many memories for me and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I thought it was the perfect choice for a final song because it just made everyone dance around and sing along one last time.

I know I say this a lot, but this was honestly one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. I’ve seen Olly seven times now and yet every single time he manages to outdo himself. The amount of energy he brings on stage is infectious, it makes you dance and jump around like there’s no tomorrow and his cheeky personality really shines through his entire performance. Everything from his amazing backing singers and band, the visuals on the screen, the way he runs around and dances on the stage, his incredible vocals to the way he interacts with the crowd makes Olly’s shows so special. It was just like a huge party with an entire arena of people and that’s what I love about his shows, they leave me feeling so happy and that’s why I’ll never tire of seeing Olly live, he just brings the energy and entertainment every time.

Have you seen Olly on this tour, or are you going to one of the upcoming shows? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I’d love to hear from you! Also leave me any ideas for future posts as I know most of my recent posts have just been about concerts and I’d love to have some suggestions about what else you’d like to see.

As always thank you so much for reading, x